Frantic Stephen A. Smith backtracks after saying ICE agent ‘completely justified’ in Renee Good killing
A furious Stephen A. Smith has hit out after his widely-reported comments this week saying the ICE agent who shot Renee Good dead in Minneapolis was ‘completely justified’ from a legal standpoint.
The death of Good, a 37-year-old mother, has ignited a furious response across the United States while vice-president JD Vance has led the defense of ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who shot her.
The increasingly political Smith, best known for working as an ESPN sports analyst, said Wednesday that Ross was ‘completely justified… from a lawful perspective’ in firing the shots but questioned why he didn’t shoot the tyres of the car Good was driving instead.
Two days on from those comments and Smith slammed how his words were reported and moved to clarify his position on the incident once and for all.
‘I did not say he was justified – as in morally. As in ethically. As in his own humanity, because that woman should still be alive,’ Smith said. ‘A mother-of-three, 37 years of age. How could you do that? She wasn’t pointing a gun at you. Why would you do that?’
Smith continued: ‘On one hand she had no business being in that position. She had no business driving off and as a result, from a legal perspective, he is going to be justified.
Stephen A. Smith has clarified his comments about the death of Renee Good this week
Good, pictured, has been named as the woman shot dead by ICE in Minneapolis on Wednesday
‘But that doesn’t make him morally, legally, humanly right. Because he is not. What is the problem?’
The initial video of Good’s final moments that circulated online shows an officer approaching an SUV stopped in the middle of the road and trying to open the driver’s door.
Seconds later, the car drives away and a different ICE officer standing in front of the car fires at least two shots toward the driver. The SUV appeared to knock the officer back but not down.
The car then sped into two cars parked on a curb nearby before crashing to a stop.
ICE said that Good deliberately drove her burgundy SUV at agents – something that was disputed by witnesses and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey even called ‘bulls**t’.
In a different part of his 38-minute video, Smith added: ‘There was an ICE officer standing in front of her vehicle, one on the side, requesting that she get out of her vehicle.
‘She backed up in an effort to try and get away and then you have people, like the vice president talking about how it was a domestic terrorism. That is ridiculous, I said that too.
‘You know what I said? If you could move out the way, you could have avoided shooting her in the head. And you also could have shot the tyre.
Good was shot three times in the face at a protest in Minneapolis on Wednesday and died at the scene after trying to drive off
‘You are a trained officer. Don’t tell me you could do all of that, you could get out of the way but you could not avoid shooting her in the head. Where was your humanity? That is what I said.’
Plenty of the comments on Smith’s latest video question his latest words, mainly his unhappiness at how his words were portrayed.
‘But SAS that’s literally what you said. You weren’t misquoted. Stand on business and stop backtracking lol,’ one viewer wrote, while another said: ‘You was wrong homie, you used them words.’
Former ESPN sports analyst Keith Olbermann hit out at Smith for his words on Wednesday.
He posted on X: ‘BTW speaking for a lot of people who actually built the place – it’s time for ESPN to fire Stephen A. Smith.
‘He is now damaging the brand in a way his on-air cartoon character could never approach.’
Smith seems very secure in his job with ESPN. In March 2025, he signed a lucrative five-year contract with the broadcaster worth $100million.
